concept noteObjectiveThe objective of this roundtable was to bring together key (AU and EU) stakeholders to discuss issues that are central to sustainable agricultural development and their implications for the CAADP process: land, research, seeds, family and women farming. The timing is right as several key policy processes are currently under review, both at European Union (EU) and African Union (AU) level. Furthermore agriculture will be high on the international agenda in 2014 as it will be the AU Year of Agriculture and Food Security the UN General Assembly has declared it the Year of Family Farming.

The results of this roundtable will hopefully inform the 2014 review of the CAADP framework, currently underway under the leadership of the AU.

In his book, Dr. Leakey explores a particularly promising innovation—agroforestry. Agroforestry consists of a wide range of practices that integrate trees in farming systems.

In Living with the Trees of Life, Dr. Leakey suggests that farmers in tropical areas of Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania domesticate indigenous trees as cash crops to foster both increased biodiversity and economic opportunities. With increased diversification, agroecosystems will provide habitats for wildlife, improve soil erosion, protect watersheds, and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, helping to mitigate climate change. The only obstacle in implementing these agricultural innovations, Leakey argues, is a lack of political will and appropriate policies.

Roger Leakey was Professor of Agroecology and Sustainable Development of the James Cook University, in Cairns, Australia (2001-2006); Head of Tropical Ecology at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Edinburgh, UK (1997-2001) and Director of Research at the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (now the World Agroforestry Centre 1993-1997). Currently he is Vice Chairman of the International Tree Foundation, a UK registered charity and Vice President of the International Society of Tropical Foresters.

He was born in Kenya and educated at Marlborough College in England before becoming an agriculturalist (NDA and CDA from Seale Hayne Agricultural College (1964-67 including 18 months practical farm work in England, Sweden and Scotland); B.Sc. Hons. in Agricultural Botany (University of Wales 1967-1970), Ph.D. in the physiology of perennial weeds while working at the ARC Weed Research Organization (University of Reading 1970-1974).

Between 2006 and 2008, he was a Coordinating Lead Author in the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). This Assessment examined the impact of agricultural knowledge, science and technology on environmentally, socially and economically sustainable development worldwide over the last 50 years. To meet the challenges agriculture is facing it has to become more multidisciplinary and embrace food production within a more integrated approach in order to achieving environmental, social and economic goals.

The programme provided an overview of existing and promising joint EU-Africa science, technology and innovation initiatives in the field of food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture like:

Philip C Stevenson (NRI)presenting ADAPTT

PAEPARD: Platform for African European Partnership on Agricultural Research for Development. Funded by the Food Security Thematic Programme of the EU’s Development Cooperation Instrument, and erected under the EU’s 6th Framework Programme.

and promoting the use of indigenous botanical knowledge for food security and poverty alleviation in Africa. Funded by the ACP-EU Cooperation Programme in Science and Technology.

CAAST-NET Plus: Advancing SSA-EU cooperation in research and innovation for global challenges. Funded by the EU’s 7th Framework Programme. IntensAfrica: A research partnership between Europe and Africa on sustainable intensification of agri-food systems.

IntensAfrica: A research partnership between Europe and Africa on sustainable intensification of agri-food systems.

29 November 2013, Brussels Belgium. The European and African Union Commissions held the 2nd High Level Policy Dialogue with a special focus on the role of science, technology and innovation in ensuring “Food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture (including water)”. An integrated approach is taken recognising the important cross-cutting nature of innovation/ entrepreneurship, research infrastructures and technical competence building.

Agricultural sector occupies a pivotal and central position in Africa's social and economic development dynamics. The dialogue expressed a strong conviction that science and technology can bring about enhanced productive and efficient food and agricultural sector on the continent which is central for economic growth, wealth creation, food and nutrition security, as well as political stability. In 2003 the Heads of State and Government launched the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), as a common framework for boosting agriculture on the continent, through strategic investment plans and programmes.

The ‘way forward’ sets out the short-, medium- and long-term steps and milestones towards the implementation of a long-term jointly funded research and innovation partnership (flagship) between the EU and Africa. As a first priority area of Cooperation, “food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture” has been chosen.

Medium-term milestone (by end 2017)The establishment of a framework of enhanced coordination in the domain of STI for food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture, making the landscape less scattered, increasing coherence, scale and impact while building on existing efforts (e.g. through clustering) and promoting synergy between and co-ownership of all stakeholders and financing instruments. Therefore, this medium-term partnership could be based on the era-net model following the successful example of the ERAfrica project or any alternative model that serves the purpose and has proven impact.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

26th - 27th November 2013. Brussels. European Development Days. 20 auditorium sessionswere broadcast via live web-streaming. Here under are the panels related to ARD:

Resilience-building for improved food security and nutrition
CTA/IFPRI/PAFO/EC High-level panel on Resilience-building.
Understanding the multi-faceted dimensions of food security, nutrition and resilience is crucial. Smallholders account for a large share of vulnerable and food insecure populations. To reduce and manage risks they need access to technologies and practices that reduce yield variability, as well as financial services and policies to adapt to climate change. Investments in disease-resistant crop varieties to reduce vulnerability to crop losses have improved food and nutrition security.

Food security and food justice: Building blocks for a just and sustainable global food system
The panel discuss which policy shifts are needed to address these challenges. Which kind of agricultural development is desirable and most effective to feed the world in 2030, and does not add additional stress to the environment and the global climate? The panel should thus advance the discussion on the environmental sustainability of the food system, in particular in view of converging MDGs and SDGs in the post 2015 framework and help in better defining the EU’s contribution to transforming the global food system with the ultimate goal of achieving food security in a just and sustainable way.

Members of the panel gave their views on the growing threat of land degradation, the measures that can be taken to combat it and the environmental, social and economic benefits of doing so. Leveraging private sector and trade for inclusive and sustainable development
The panel analysed the challenges faced when working with the private sector. It then highlighted potential benefits of Trade Facilitation and Trade Capacity Building advisory, especially for SMEs. Discussants will showcase tools to effectively engage with the private sector and will prioritize next steps needed to overcome the obstacles discussed. The debate explored the necessary conditions for fruitful public-private cooperation to catalyse trade-related reforms and achieve development results.

Besides a number of labsrelated to Agriculture in Africa were organised:

Agriculture in Africa today
The project is a collaborative effort between the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, Cornell University, Yale University and the Maastricht School of Management.

Improve livelihoods by sustainable trade
By leveraging and accelerating the investments of European private sector companies, EU Member States contribute to the public good through trade by upgrading and integrating large groups of smallholder farmers and local MSMEs into commercial supply chains. Building on the drive of these parties to upgrade supply origins in line with demand opportunities in regional and international markets, public leverage funding contributes towards strengthened cooperation and impact on the ground.

Upscaling climate risk assessments
The Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre has developed interactive approaches to inform and apply climate risk assessments, which are used by a wide variety of actors, from smallholder communities in Africa to the World Bank and IFAD. This interactive session will (i) feature brief examples from the field, showing how local risk assessments can directly inform policy and practice, (ii) present tools to overcome uncertainties and link information to action, and then (iii) ask participants to brainstorm solutions to enhance the integration of climate risk assessments into decision-making at all scales.

Climate financial instruments
This brainstorming session aims to identify good practices and standards to enhance both the effectiveness and the supervision of innovative mechanisms.

Small farmers, big business?
Drawing from the experience of the “Small Farmer Big Business Platform” initiated by GIZ, UNIDO, SNV, COLEACP and AFD, this brainstorming session will discuss how innovative public-private partnerships can join efforts, benefit from synergies, and create up-scalable business models that promote inclusive agricultural growth as well as food and nutrition security.

Soil data and information for development
How to protect Africa’s soil resources? The first Soil Atlas of Africa, the result of a collaboration between the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation–EuropeAid, uses informative maps and texts and stunning photos to explore how to protect Africa’s soil resources

Strengthening the role of the private sector in achieving inclusive and sustainable growth
Stakeholder consultations on the future EU approach to private sector development and engagement of the private sector for development. DG DEVCO is working on defining a clear policy that formulates in more operational terms its strategy for implementing the directions given in the ‘Agenda for Change’ on working for and with the private sector in development cooperation. This session will provide a space for discussion of the issues and options that should be addressed in a future EU policy on private sector development and engagement with the private sector for achieving sustainable and inclusive growth.

Innovative solutions for food security
A problem-solving workshop to enhance resilience to the challenges of food insecurity. This session will provide an overview of the challenges, followed by small group brainstorming exercises to explore innovative solutions.

25 November 2013. Brussels. On the occasion of the European Development Days in Brussels, WWForganised an evening debate where two of its main and innovative projects on sustainable energy access in Africa were presented.

WWF showed how together with the Indian Barefoot College it train grandmothers from Madagascar to become solar engineers and electrify their village and how a district in Uganda becomes a champion of renewable energy.

The first joint project "Turning Grandmothers into Solar Engineers" takes place in Madagascar, a country where more than 80% of the population still lives without electricity in 2013.

Seven Malagasy grandmothers were trained for six months at the Barefoot College in India, and will now start electrifying their villages with solar energy in the most remote areas of Madagascar. They will assemble and maintain solar systems at affordable costs for the communities. The project will have important positive impacts on health, education, empowering women and security in the villages.Published on 25 Nov 2013 by WWF

This was followed by a debate on the ways international institutions, national governments, NGOs and businesses can collaborate to ensure modern energy services, community development and environmental protection for all.

Monday, November 25, 2013

25 November 2013. Brussels, Belgium. The all-day “Partnering for Impact: IFPRI-European Research Collaboration for Improved Food and Nutrition Security” workshop highlighted the achievements of the innovative research programs IFPRI and European partners have jointly undertaken.

The workshop supported a critical dialogue between researchers, development partners, policymakers, and implementers; discuss new ideas, approaches, and strategies for achieving impact through food policy research; and further contribute to the development of a meaningful post-2015 research agenda.

The high-level conference “Turning Waste into a Resource” is one of two events of the Project “A Joint African-European Research and Innovation Agenda on Waste Management”. This project is intended to identify joint European-African key research and development issues for waste management leading to a reduction in the environmental impact and promotion of the recycling and recovery of raw materials.

This conference brought together stakeholders and experts from Industry, Research and Academia and Governmental bodies from Africa and Europe, in order to tackle issues related to waste management, recycling and recovery of raw materials to explore the potential economic opportunities from the collaboration between Africa and Europe. It was intended to stimulate networking of stakeholders, share experience and knowledge on existing and potential research and innovation initiatives and business cases and enhance cooperation and partnerships in the joint challenges of waste management and recovery of raw materials.

The conference was accompanied by a brokerage event on innovative business and research activities in the field of waste management, recycling and recovery.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

8 November 2013. ECDPM is planning to organise and facilitate an informal knowledge platform between European, African and Chinese stakeholders on sustainable private investments in African agriculture. The platform aims to strengthen mutual understanding and lesson learning, as well as provide a space for trust building and enhanced international partnerships. As Africa is preparing for the AU's Year of Food Security in 2014, the long term goal of ECDPM is to gradually build a platform for mutually beneficial partnerships for food security and agricultural development.

Ultimately, ECDPM aspires to create a forum that can help Africa respond more efficiently to its food security challenges, while also assisting public and private partners in further developing their support and contributions.

Africa’s Adaptation Gap Report is a stark analysis of where Africa stands in relation to its adaptation goals and is a cautionary indicator of what may happen should the emissions gap remain - necessitating additional adaptation.

The Africa Adaptation Gap Report was accomplished to inform policymakers of the shortcomings and opportunities for adaptation to Climate Change in Africa. The results demonstrate how delaying action now will assuredly result in exponential costs down the road. Adaptation costs due to past emissions are revealed to be between USD 7-15 billion annually by 2020.

The report’s conclusions demonstrate that - even where the emissions gap is closed and we get onto a pathway to hold warming below 2°C - by 2050 adaptation costs could hover around USD 35 billion per year. Analyses of present policies put the world on track to 3.5-4°C warming by 2100 are even more dispiriting and reveal that the cost of adaptation for Africa could reach USD 50 billion per year by 2050, still only halfway to the warming by 2100. This is hardly encouraging news for some of the world’s least developed countries.

Related:

DW Akademie invited to partake in an exclusive online, in-depth briefing with Mr Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on October 30, 2013. The interactive online conference was part of a five-week online training for journalists on issues regarding "Reporting Climate Change" held by DW Akademie. Workshop participants as well as other expert journalists with a focus on environmental issues had the chance to interview Achim Steiner on issues regarding the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP19/ CMP9 in Warsaw (11-22 November 2013).

In recent years, development practitioners and organizations have come to discover and recognize the writeshop as an effective methodology for the documentation and distillation of project learning. A writeshop is a participatory and highly intensive process which involves bringing together authors, editors, artists, and desktop publishing specialists to produce a publication in a relatively short time.

Writeshops are characterized by critical reviews and revisions, involving peers and a diverse range of stakeholders and users. Writeshops have been found particularly useful in helping field workers and practitioners document their experiences, making field-based evidence more widely available.

Three-volume series on various ways to use writeshops to capture experiences and translate them into a form that others can understand.

International Institute of Rural Reconstruction and International Potato Center - UPWARD, 2010. Produced with support from ENRAP (International Development Research Center (IDRC) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

Thursday, November 21, 2013

The Recent Malawi Experience
Ephraim Chirwa and Andrew Dorward
Oxford University Press
First Edition published in 2013320 pages

A new book by Future Agricultures members Ephraim
Chirwa and Andrew Dorward offers an up-to-date review of theory and experience
of agricultural input subsidies in low income countries.

Agricultural Input
Subsidies: The Recent Malawi Experience includes a detailed and comprehensive
analysis of the Malawi Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme.

The authors aim to contribute to a greater understanding of the roles, contributions, and pitfalls of agricultural input subsidies as instruments for promoting food security, poverty reduction, social protection, and wider economic growth in poor agrarian economies. The specific objectives are

to update and develop theoretical understanding of agricultural input subsidies’ impacts, allowing for new delivery systems and instruments and specific constraints inhibiting the livelihoods of poor subsistence farmers and the economies of which they are a major part;

to derive from Malawi’s experience lessons about the implementation and impacts of a large-scale agricultural input subsidy programme, with specifi c focus on the contextual, design, and implementation determinants of economy-wide, benefi ciary, and market impacts; and

to promote debate about strategic policy decisions in the design of large-scale agricultural input subsidies in contemporary low income agrarian economies, including targeting and graduation, to foster their sustainable contribution to agricultural development and poverty reduction.

As part of the research, they looked at more than 170 different technological tools now available to funders, dove deeply into the literature on philanthropic collaboration, analyzed the results of recent Foundation Center surveys, and spoke with a wide range of experts from the worlds of both technology and philanthropy.

The report’s main headlines won’t come as a huge surprise to anyone:

more than ever before, funders are recognizing that they will need to collaborate to effectively to address the complex, intractable problems that we now face, and

new technologies—from simple group scheduling tools to comprehensive online collaboration workspaces—are now available to help facilitate the often challenging process of working together.

But there’s a deeper story beneath the headlines: about how these emerging technologies are enabling new types collaborations that weren’t possible (or at least much were more difficult) just a few years ago.

The Harnessing Collaborative Technologies report helps readers make sense of the dizzying array of technologies that are now available to help those engaged in both low- and high-intensity collaborations by parsing the different collaborative needs of funders. How can new tools help funders learn and get smarter about the issues they care about? How can the technologies help you find and connect with potential partners? How can they help you transact business together? Which technologies can help you assess collective progress and measure outcomes? The report encourages funders to start with these collaborative needs rather than with the technologies themselves, to ensure that solutions fit the wants, requirements, and limitations of users.

Harnessing Collaborative Technologies also provides a set of principles that offer guidance for tool developers and funders about how to make thoughtful choices when investing in the creation and adaptation of new tools that facilitate collaborative work.

By getting smarter about how we develop and use these collaborative tools, we have an opportunity to alleviate some of the “friction in the system” that has made working together—even in lower intensity ways—difficult until now. And in doing so, we can ease the path to collaboration and help aggregate resources and effort that can match the scale of the problems we now face.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The Agribusiness
Directory of Uganda is a product of Agasha Group Limited (formerly Agasha
Business Network), an internet marketing agency that promotes mainly African products, services and brands in the growing global market.

Next year Agasha Group Limited will publish the regional
Agribusiness Directory East Africa including Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi,
Tanzania and Ethiopia.

The network was set up to support African Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) with few options of accessing international markets due to limited capital and technical knowledge for sustaining a simple website.

Through AgaSha online platform and offline events, these businesses are able to expose products and services demanded or offered in the region. Additionally, AgaSha connects companies and individuals interested in African market of over 1 billion people. The agency generates money mainly through advertisements and special memberships among other means.

Agasha Business Network was found in May 2010 by Sharon Againe and it is legally registered under the laws of the Republic of Uganda, East Africa.

In 2008, Sharon Againe (Founder of AgaSha Business Network) carried out her junior-year internship in Africa as Alumni Volunteer Consultant to Technoserve, Mozambique and was involved in determining the productivity of honey in the Gorogonsa District. During her internship, she was concerned by the plight of honeybee farmers in the community.

On finishing her internship, Sharon decided to focus her EARTH University graduation research project on small businesses in the community of Siquirres, Costa Rica. She carried out a study to determine the feasibility of setting up recycling centers of domestic wastes in communities. One of the challenges that the potential project beneficiaries presented was how to get connected to the buyers who are mainly based in the capital city of San Jose.

Sharon, an agronomist by training, decided to dive into internet marketing by developing a pilot project of AgaShaKnows Business Directory which later evolved into an intergated business networking platform of AgaSha, where businesses grow.

Interview with Sharon Againe, Director of Agasha Business Network - An internet based company that connects Africa to the global market through internet media.

Published on 6 Feb 2013
The video features Sharon Againe (Founder of AgaSha Business Network) a finalist of the ICCO BID network "women in competition", a competition for women in developing countries. She was one of the five finalists and therefore invited to the Netherlands.

Related:

'Talks that Matter', a new ICCO Cooperation initiative, was held on November 13. A select group of international experts debated on the subject of 'Farming by choice or default? The future of smallholder farming in developing countries'.

Talks that Matter is held twice a year and debates on subjects related to the working field of the cooperative and its stakeholders. After the General Members Meeting of the cooperative the first edition of Talks that Matter was held at the Global Office in Utrecht. All seats were taken and the atmosphere was good.

20 November 2013. Agtube will be launched before the end of 2013. This portal is where you can upload videos about agriculture for sharing with the agricultural community. Keep checking the news section of Access Agriculture for the latest.

Access Agriculture also aims to support new productions and more local language translations. For those without internet access and to ensure the DVDs end up in the villages where farmers can organise themselves to watch the videos whenever they like, major distribution of the hard-copy DVDs is planned through a wide variety of outlets: rural radio networks, research and extension agencies, farmers' organisations, development organisations and Chambers of Agriculture.

Agro Insight blog: Agro-Insight is co-founder of the international NGO Access Agriculture, which facilitates the production, translation, distribution and use of quality, local language, farmer training videos in developing countries. It publishes regular backgrounds to the produced videos.

Related:
Showcasing its video-sharing platform at the ICT4Ag conference in Kigali earlier this month, Access Agriculture attracted a lot of interest. Delegates expressed their confidence in the organisation to support sustainable agriculture through its unique communication model, namely by putting quality training videos into the hands of the thousands of advisory service providers and millions of farmers across developing countries.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Malawi Programme for Aflatoxin Control (MAPAC) (September 2013, 54 pages), developed in this document, represents an initial effort to create a shared vision, prioritize entry points and create mechanisms for effective coordination and collaboration of aflatoxin control in the country.

The program is proposed as a tool for collaborative advantage in the fight against aflatoxins in Malawi, contributing to the achievement of established nutrition and health; trade; and agriculture and food security objectives.

MAPAC is proposed as the national platform/forum on which collaboration and synergies among government agencies and relevant stakeholders can be built upon. It is also a channel/conduit to facilitate the implementation of regional strategies and aflatoxin-related efforts in the country.

This proposal analyses key capacity needs and gaps (based on existing government and development partner programmes / interventions), identifies critical components of a collaborative programme for aflatoxin control, and outlines implementation strategies and recommendations for follow-up by various stakeholders. This initial proposal gathers the views of several stakeholders consulted during the preparation phase (see Annex 1). It is the result of a preliminary, concerted effort towards advancing collaborative advantage for aflatoxin control in the country. But, while MAPAC is a response to the need for concerted action, it is at the same time a call for it.

In recent years, a pan-African initiative has emerged, the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA), which is managed by the African Union through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). This webinar explores the approach taken by Malawi, through the Malawi Programme for Aflatoxin Control (MAPAC), to develop a framework aligned to PACA that seeks to address the challenges of monitoring, managing and mitigating aflatoxin risks in maize and groundnuts. The webinar will also look at the work of Twin and FERA and how their assistance to the coordinators of MAPAC is helping to raise the profile of their plan. >>Learn More

Under the patronage of HE the President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, over 200 participants representing both farmers and producers’ organisations and the West African and international private sector participate in:

Thematic panels regarding factors needed to improve productivity and competitiveness of agricultural and food products in West Africa, including specifically: partnerships between farmers’ organisations and the private sector, enabling environment for successful contracting, major challenges and opportunities for inclusive business models and effective value chains.

Training on contracting and “Business to Business” (B2B) meetings specifically designed for farmers’ organisations to support them in further developing attractive offers for private sector investment.

Sharing best practices, information and institutional financial advice related to trade in agricultural and food products in West Africa.

The second day was dedicated to B2B sessions and over a hundred bilateral meetings are already under preparation.

ROPPA Business Forum’s partners included: ECOWAS, UEMOA, EU, IFAD, AGRA, SDC, FAO, CILSS, CTA, Grow Africa, Council of Employers, AFD, CORAF, EDITO. A 2nd Farmers Business Forum will take place in Ghana in 2014. The exact date will be announced later.

ROPPA is working to establishing the
Farmers University, a mechanism aimed
at systemactically strengthening the capacities of its members for their
effective engagement in future Business for and in business partnerships with
actors from PS sector in general. The key areas of focus identified for the
first three years of the Farmers Universities are the following:

Related:
On the 2nd October 2013, Kalilou Sylla (Executive Secretary, ROPPA) held a presentation on “the progress of Maputo commitments towards agriculture in West Africa” as part of the Brussels Briefing on the ‘Drivers of success for agricultural transformation in Africa’ organized by CTA Brussels at the Borschette Congress Center in Brussels.

Monday, November 18, 2013

5 November 2013. In its annual Emissions Gap Report, UNEP (November 2013, 37 pages) says that countries' existing emission pledges, if fully implemented, will help reduce emissions to below the business-as-usual level in 2020, but not to a level consistent with the 2°C limit, thus leaving a considerable and growing "emissions gap".

To help bridge the gap, the European Union will be pressing at Warsaw climate conference for progress towards concrete measures to raise the ambition of near-term global climate action in order to cut world emissions further before 2020.

The Report presents the latest estimates of the emissions gap in 2020 and provides plentiful information about:

current (2010) and projected (2020) levels of global greenhouse gas emissions, both in the absence of additional policies and consistent with national pledge implementation

the implications of starting decided emission reductions now or in the coming decades

agricultural development policies that can help increase yields, reduce fertilizer usage and bring about other benefits, while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases

international cooperative initiatives that, while potentially overlapping with pledges, can complement them and help bridge the emissions gap

17 November 2013. Warsaw, Poland. The Conference of African Ministers on Environment was held in preparation for the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP19) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 9th Session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP9).

The conference discussed issues related to the current negotiation position of Africa. It took stock of the outcomes of at least two preparatory events that preceded COP19 – the Conference of African Environment Ministers which met in Gaborone, Botswana and the Third Annual Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA III). Both events were held in October, a month before COP19.

Calls for the provision of adequate means of implementation, including finance, technology transfer and capacity-building, to enable Africa to address its adaptation needs in particular, has been one of the staples on Africa’s menu at virtually every COP for the last decade.

So too have been calls on developed country parties to urgently scale up support for the implementation of adaptation measures and national adaptation plans, particularly through the Cancun Adaptation Framework and the Nairobi Work Programme.

In Warsaw, Africa also wants developed countries to support and expedite work to understand, reduce and compensate for loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including its impacts on agriculture. Furthermore, they have called for a well structured standing body with technical and financial facility, clear functions, relevant national points and a trust fund to address loss and damage.

Most of these issues were extensively dealt with at CCDA III, says Tom Owiyo, one of ECA’s scientists who explains that the conference provided a platform to play back critical issues in the negotiations to seek contribution from a larger audience from across Africa, as well as fine-tune science-informed positions on a number of negotiation tracks.

PARTICIPANTS: African Ministers, AU Commission, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Ministers of AU Member States, Civil Society Organizations, Development Partners, Regional Institutions, and National Experts, among others. Only two heads of states from Africa are attending: President Mulatu Teshhome of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania.

18 November 2013. Interview with Kurt Lonsway of the African Development Bank. Below is an older interview with Interview with Kurt Lonsway of AFDB on 28/08/2012.

Around one thousand people gathered in central Warsaw on Saturday to call on world leaders to step up action on climate change. Warsaw hosts the UN climate conference this week. Amid a heavy police presence, 3000 people walked from the Palace of Culture in the centre of the city to the National Stadium, where the UN conference is taking place.

The UK Department for International Development and Ministry of Agriculture of China will collaborate under a new programme, working in Partnership with China to Accelerate Agricultural Technology Transfer to Low Income Countries (AgriTT). The programme will support the sharing of experience in agricultural development with low-income countries in order to improve agricultural productivity and food security for poor people. It starts from 2012 and will end in March 2016.

The AgriTT programme will work with the Malawi and Uganda Governments to establish pilots to disseminate technology and management practices on sustainable agriculture, particularly from China. It will also support researchers from Africa, Southeast Asia, China and the UK to work jointly to develop innovative solutions to agricultural productivity improvement in low-income countries.

Background:

The China-UK Sustainable Agriculture Innovation Network (SAIN) has been established to provide a coherent framework for the development and implementation of China-UK collaboration on sustainable agriculture. It will support the aims of the existing China-UK Sustainable Development Dialogue (SDD) and provide a flexible and enduring platform for long-term China-UK collaboration in this area. Development of SAIN is included in the SDD Work Programme on Sustainable Agriculture and Fisheries (dated May 2008), which sets out priority areas of collaboration between the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and the United Kingdom Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

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Purpose

The Platform for African – European Partnership in Agricultural Research for Development (Phase II) is to build joint African-European multi-stakeholder partnerships in agricultural research for development. PAEPARD II nurtures partnerships to increase the quantity and quality of joint proposals (leading to more funded initiatives).

PAEPARD II not only focuses on FP7, but includes other European Commission (EDF, EC Budget through the FSTP) and bilateral funding instruments supporting ARD that might be mobilized for emerging ARD partnerships.